Trolley shoe and harp therefor



July 20,1926. 1,592,390

R. J. LYLE TROLLEY SHOE. AND HARP THEREFOR Filed Dec. 5', 1925 2Sheets-Sheet l Invshinr July 20 1926.

R. J. LYLE TROLLEY SHOE AND HARP THEREFOR Filed Dec. 5. 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 2 [nzranim' HabariJaImLyla 4 f AH s.

Patented July 20,1926.

UNITED STATES I 1,592,890 arent orrics- ROBERT JOHN LYLE, ornruito'on'nournnro, CANADA.

TROLLEY SHOE AND HARP THEREFOR.

Application filed. December 5, 1925. Serial No. 73,475.

My invention relates to improvements in trolley shoes and harpstherefor, and the object of the invention is to provides shoe orSlidingcontact which will work successfully for city service as well ason rural lines and which will have two relatively long, straight Fig. 2is an elevation looking edgewisc y the shoe.

3 is a sectional viewthrough the shoe and harp showing it in the initialposition it assumes when engaging the trolley wire.

Fig. 45 is a similar view to Figure 3 showing the shoe in, the positionit assumes during the forward service.

Fig. 5 isa similar view to Figure 4 showing the position the shoeassumes during re-- verse service.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the shoe showing a modified form ofcontact surface.

' In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in each figure.

1 indicates a shoe which is pear shaped in general form and provided inthe body thereof with a longitudinally extending slot 2 havingsemi-circular ends 3 and 4. The apex end of the pear shaped body of theshoe is semi-circular as indicated at 4*, and

' concentric with the centre of the end 3 of the slot 2. The end 5forming the base of the pear shaped body is also formed concentric withthe centre of the slot end 3, the ends of the base portion 5 curving at6 and 7 to merge into the inclinedsides 8 of the body.

By this construction it will be seen that a substantially pear shapedbody is formed in which the longitudinal slot 2 is located in relativelyclose proximity to the apex or small end 4 of the body.

The. body 1 is provided with a surrounding peripheral groove 9comprising the straight portions 10 and 11 forming straight contactsurfaces which are alternately used as contact surfaces engaging thetrolley wire 12 during forward movement. That is to the.

say when one surface such as 10 becomes worn the shoe is removed andreversec so as to use the surface 11 in the same relative position tothe trolley wire 12. Normally the shoe assumes the balanced positionshown in Figure 3. lVl'ien brought into contact with the trolley wire 12which engages the contact surface 10. or 11 at the large end of the shoebody, such large end is depressed by the upward pressure of the trolleypole carrying the parts into the position shown in Figure 4, with thetrolley wire engaging the long contact surface 10 or 11.

13 is a trolley harp provided with a cross pin or axle 14; which extendsthrough tee, slot 2 of the shoe body 1, assuming the position at theforward end of the slot 2 during the forward operation of the shoe, butwhen, however, reverse operation is requir and when the car starts toback up the axle pin 14 extending through the harp slides back in theslot'2 and strites the opposite end of the slot, forcing the shoe toturn on its pivot .and tip over with the slight jar thus CtillSOt to itsvertical reverse position, or the positi'on shown in Figure 5, the pin14. assuming the position indicated in this figure at the opposite endof the slot 2, This jar pro duced by the backing up of the car alsostarts the shoe on its slide along the trolley wire. y

The difficulty with most sliding contacts and their failure tosatisfactorily slide in reverse is first, a long contact surface andsecond a contact which is used both for forward and reverse service. hena long contact. is used for forward service a groove is cut in it by theaction of the trolley wire thereon rendering the surface unsuitableforsatisfactory use in reverse, particularly if movement and will remainsmooth and fur-' nish most reliable back-up or reverse sliding contact.It is for the purpose of overcoming the difficulty heretoforeencountered in this class of shoe that the shoe above described has beendesigned which provides long contact surfaces for engagement during theforward movement and which aretherefore relatively long lived, and theshort contact surface for reverse movement which is comparatively littleused, and therefore does not require the samelength of life as thesurfaces used during forward movement, providing a separate surface forreverse instead of using a surface which is normally used for forwardmovement and which has a tendency to become worn and grooved and unfitfor reverse contact.

and 16 are stop projections'formed on a face of the shoe body 1 andcoact with the projection 16 of the stop rib 16. 17 is a rib formed onthe opposite side of the harp so that when the shoe is in position inthe fork of the harp the ribs 16 and 1? bear against the opposite facesof the shoe body so as to definitely hold it in position, theprojections 16* coactinq' alternately with the projection 15 duringrorward movement and with'tne projection 16 during reverse movement.

In Figure 6 I have shown the centre portion of the shoe at the base ofthe surrounding groove provided with a supplemen groove into which isslippeda member-l8 or relatively harder metal than the body of the shoe,such strip being provided with 19 fitting into recesses 20 and securedtherein by rivets 21 extending theretl'irougl' and through the shoe. i

lVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In a three contact sliding trolleyshoe and harp therefore, thecombination with the harp fork and axle pin extending therethrough. of ashoe body substantially pear shaped in general fOI'lILLIlCl throughwhich the axle pin extends in proximity to the small end of the body andhaving surrounding peripheral groove extending in diverging lines fromthe small to the large end of the shoe body end forming three Wireengaging surfaces, one of which is at each side of the body and operableduring the forward tra c1 of the shoe, and the remainingcontact surfaceacross the small end of the body into which the aforesaid straightsurfaces merge and which furnishes a reverse or back-up Contact surfaceduring the rever e movement of the shoe.

. 2. In a three contact trolley shoe and harp therefor, the combinationwith the shoe body substantially pear shaped in general form and havinga surrounding peripheral groove extending in diverging line from thesmall end to the large end of the shoe body and a harp into which. thebody is pivotally mounted adjacent its small or narrow end, coactingstop meanson the shoe and harp for limiting the pivotal movement of theshoe body in the harp.

In a three contact trolley shoe and harp therefor, the combination withthe harp forl; a rd axle pin extending therethrough, of a shoe bodysubstantially pear sha aed in form and having a slot formed therein toreceive the axle pin adjacent the small end of the body and havingsemi-circularends, the small and large ends of the shoe being formedconcentric to the centre of the slot end adjacent the small end of theshoe and provided with a surrounding peripheral groove extending indiverging lines from the small end to the large end of the shoe bodyforming wire engaging contact surfaces on each end at the small end ofthe shoe.

ROBERT JOHN LYLE.

